Direction indicator for automobiles



NOV. 25 R. E. LUNDAY DIRECTION INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed March 271922 INVENTOR 59 1?. .Elundcy v 4 By j 4110mm Patented Nov. 25, 1924,

stares @FHQE.

DIRECTION INDICATOR FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed March 2'7, 1922. Serial No, 547,279.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUSSELL EDWARD LUNDAY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Direction Indicators forAutomobiles, of which the followin is a full clear, and exactdescription.

l Iy invention relates to improvements in direction indicators forautomobiles, and it consists in the combinations, constructions andarrangements herein described and claimed:

An object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed for indicating to observers on both sides of the vehicle thedirection in which the vehicle is about to turn.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed, in which two cooperating indicators act simultaneously toindicate the direction in which the motor vehicle is about to turn.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed which is electrically operated and in which a lamp is providedwhich is automatically switched on and ofi' when the indicator is in anoperative position and at rest, respectively.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed outin the appended claims' My invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this application, in which Fig. 1 is a view ofan embodiment of my invention applied to an automobile.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the indicating mechanisms with thecasing removed and a part of the field piece removed.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the indicating mechanisms, and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the electric connections used inoperating the device.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a pair of indicating mechanisms1 and 2, which are provided with base portions 3. By means of these baseportions 3, I mount the indicating mechanisms upon the crowns of thefront fenders 4 of an automobile 5.

The indicating mechanisms 1 and 2 are precisely the same in constructionand a detailed description of one will exactly describe the constructionof both. In Fig. 2, I have removed the sheet metal casings6 and show aside elevation of the operative parts. The base 3 is secured at itsupper end to a rectangular metal plate 7. Two pairs of up right fieldpieces 8 and 9 are securely mounted upon the plate 7. magnetic metal,preferably brass;

The upper ends of the field pieces 8 and 9 are provided with arcuatesurfaces on their inner sides, as shown at 10, havin a common centerexactly midway the upright field geces 8 and the field pieces 9,respectively rass plates 11 and 12 are secured by means of screws 13upon the sides of the field pieces 8 and 9 adjacent their upper ends.

The plates 11 and 12 are provided with bearings centrally locatedtherein, which bearings are in exact alinement with the center of thearcuate surfaces 10. Each pair of the field pieces 8 and 9 are providedwith an armature 14 and 15, respectively, which armatures are rotatablymounted in the bearings of the brass plates 11 and 12'. v The armatures14 and 15 have coils 16 wound thereon about a soft iron core 17. Thterminals of the coil 16 are arranged to pass out through a hollow shaftupon which the armatures turn. Each of the armatures are provided withtwo terminals extending through the hollow shaft thereof, the armature14 having terminals 18 and 19 and the armature 15 having terminals 20and 21.

The field pieces 8 and the field pieces 9 are each provided with atransverse soft iron core 22, which cores have wound there on fieldcoils 23 and 24, respectively. Terminals 18 and 19 ofthe arms 14 areconnect-- ed directly to the terminals of the field coil 23, so that thearmature 14 is in multiple with the field coil 23. The terminals 20 and21 of the armature 15 are connected to the terminals of the field coil24 so that the armature 15 and the field coil 24 are in multi le.

Ihe adjacent shaft ends of the arinatures 14 and 15 are threaded andeach are pro vided with an indicating member, the shaft of the armature14 having a member-shaped to resemble the vane of an arrow and the shaftof the armature 15 having an indicating member 26 fashioned to resemblethe head of an arrow. These indicating members are of aluminum so as toreduce their weights as much as possible. Means for This plate is of anon fastening the members and 26 to the adjacent shaft ends of thearmatures 14 and 15 is provided in. nuts 27 Which are arranged to turnupon the threaded portions of the shafts. Means for illuminating theindicating members 25 and 26 when used at night is provided in anincandescent lamp 28, which is mounted in a socket 29. One terminal ofthe lamp 28 is connected to a pair of binding screws 30. The switchesfor automatically turning on the lamp when the device is operated areassociated one with each of the pairs of field pieces 8 and 9. In Fig. 3I have broken away oneof the field pieces 8 and show this switchmechanism which consists of an insulating base 31 secured to the plate7. A U-shaped resilient metal arm 32 having at its outer end a soft ironarmature 33. The armature 33 is arranged to' over-han a pair of inwardlyextending'portions of the field pieces 8 and 9, as shown at 34. Theseportions 34 also serve to receive screws by means of which the fieldpieces may be mounted upon the brass plate 7. When the field coils 23 or24 areenergized, the armature 33 will be drawn down upon the portions 34and establish electrical contact therebetween, i. e.,

between the core 33" and the portions 34 of the field pieces. For thesake of explanation, we will refer to the switch associated with thefield pieces 8 as the switch 35 and the switch associated with the fieldpieces 9, as 36. Both switches 35 and 36 have their resilient arms 32electrically connected by means of wires 37 to the binding post 30 ofthe lamp 28. The opposite terminal of the lamp 28 is extended throughthe casing 6 and is shown at 38.

In Fig. 4, I have shown a diagrammatic view of the electricalconnections of my device. It will be noted that the field coils 23 and24 of the opposite mechanisms are connected in parallel as well as theirassociate armatures, and that current is supplied to the device by acurrent source 39, which may be a storage cell or similar device. Aswitch for controlling the indicating'mechanism is shown at 40 and is ofthe magnetic type. This switch I have completely disclosed in myapplication for patent in the United States Patent Office on MagneticSwitch, Serial No. 318,266. The switch 40 has two manually operatedbuttons 41 and 42; Electrical magnets 43 and 44 are disposed heneath thebuttons 41 and 42, respectively. One terminal of the magnets 43 and 44is'connected to the ground 45, i. e.,

the frame of the car and the other terminal is connected to contactpoints 46 and 47 beneath the buttons 41 and 42, respectively. Thecontact points 46 and 47 are connected by means of wires 48 and 49,respectively, to cross wires 50 and 51.. The cross wire 50 is connectedto the terminal 19 of the armature 14 of the mechanism 1 and to theterminal 27 of the armature 15 in the opposite indicating mechanism. 7The cross wire 51 is connected to the terminal 27 of the armature 15 ofthe mechanism 1 and to the that is, they are at rest within the casings6 and the core pieces of the armatures 14 and 15, as shown at 17 are outof registration with the curved surfaces 10 of field pieces 8 and 9,respectively. When the person driving the car 5 desires to indicate thedirection in which he is about to turn, he will manually press one ofthe two buttons 41 and 42.

Let us assume that he presses the button 41,

making contact between the contact points 46 and 52. Current will flowfrom the cur- 3 rent source 39 across the contactpoints 52 and 46 upthrough the wire 48 and through the field coil 23 and the armature 14 ofthe mechanism 1, thence to the ground and back to the current source39.v Current will also flow from the cross wire through the field coil24 of the armature 15 of the mechanism 2 and thence to the ground'45.The electromagnet 43 will also become energized since current will flowfrom the contact. point 46. down through the coil 43 to the ground 45.The coil 43 when energized will serve to hold the button 41 down againstthe points 46 and 52. The vaneindicator 25 of the mechanism 1 will beelevated, as shown in Fig. 1, since current flowing through the field 23and the armature 14 of the mechanism 1, will cause the armature 14 toturn so that its core member 17 will move into close registration withthe arcuate 'surface 10 of the field pieces 8, i. e., unlike poles ofthe respective members will be attracted to one another. I

The indicating arrow 26 of the mechanism 2 will likewise beelevated andassume the,

position shown in Fig. 1. Anyone observing the car at this time willclearly see that it is about to turn to the left, since the arrow pointsin that direction and may be clearly seen from either side of the car.

When the driver does turn to the left, in doing so, a cam 56 associatedwith the steering column Will engage a piston 57 which will elevate thecontact points 52 and cause the circuit between the points 46 and 52 to.

become broken. The arrows will therefore i dicating members disposed oneach of said casings, and means for selectively moving said members insaid casings, whereby said members may be projected exteriorly of saidcasings, a member of one casing cooperating easing, a separate half ofan arrow shaped 10 indicating member disposed in said casing, a secondseparate half of an indicating member mounted in parallel relation tosaid first named half member, and means for se lectively projecting saidindicating members 15 exteriorly of said casing.

RUSSELL EDWARD LUNDAY.

